The Fairy Ranch
by EddingsFan
Summary: Lucy finds herself being sent to a rehabilitation center after committing gang-related crimes. She expects concrete structures and cold wardens, but instead finds herself out in the country, surrounded by other (sometimes overly-friendly) teens and farm animals. Everyone has a past, but can a certain pink-haired pyromaniac help Lucy get past hers?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note:

Hey everybody! :) I hope you like this fan fiction. It's my first one so please forgive me for any abominable story errors I have made. My computer doesn't have anything else to write with offline besides notepad, so also please forgive the occasional error.

This story is meant to be read while listening to specific songs, so there might be random author's notes with song titles snuck between paragraphs. I will try to have YouTube urls with the titles, (possibly my own videos later on, I haven't decided yet) so you guys can just give it a quick click and there ya go! :) Obviously you can listen without the chosen songs, but you will get more out of it if you do. :)

IMPORTANT: Please don't use the song idea without asking. It was an original idea, and I haven't seen it on this site at all before. :)

Finally, please leave me reviews, I will try to answer them in the next author's note that I'll put at the beginning of every chapter. :)

Follow so you don't miss a single chapter update! :)

Fondly,

Minerva Monfort

Chapter 1

A. N.: The song for this chapter is "Toxicity" by Apocalyptica. I thought the gradual flow of the song suited the pace of this chapter. The change of pace towards the end seemed to fit well with the appearance of our favorite flame-brain. ;) Also, "Toxicity" is the song Reedus is butchering through the speakers. Because I like this song it will appear again later on, so stay tuned folks! :)

Enjoy! :) - M. M.

Lucy Heartfilia sat alone in back of the covered half-ton truck, trying to keep her mind off of her dismal circumstances. She resorted to focusing intently upon her surroundings in order to distract herself.

"I really hate these things," she thought out loud, "They practically throw you through the canvas roof whenever you hit a pothole. And that's if you're not so lucky as to hit your head on one of the metal supports. That would at least save me from this abominable noise." Her muttering went entirely unnoticed by the rotund driver. He was concentrating on the road while blaring some classical music over the truck's tinny speakers. Lucy recognized the piece, could play it in fact, and despised that such a piece of art could be so callously butchered by the sub-standard equipment.

She snorted and shifted her gaze from the forward end of the truck bed to the bindings on her legs. Lucy had been deemed, "capable of severe violence" by the courts, so she was required to wear hobbles on her ankles so that if she tried to jump out of the back of the truck, she wouldn't be able to get very far. She had already attempted to get out of them, but they only tightened more in response. Lucy had given up and resigned herself to whatever punishments this new facility would offer.

"I guess Moma was right when she told me nothing is illegal," Lucy paused to smirk, "just as long as you don't get caught." Her smirk died as her mind ran full tilt down the mental paths she had been trying to avoid. "Why did I have to take that last job? The pay wasn't even that good." Her eyes slid shut as she thought of _him..._ The way he bought her new jeans after her old ones got completely trashed from hiking with him... his soft laugh at her excitement about going on her first ever roller coaster, the enthusiastic kiss they shared afterward, their bodies hyped up on adrenaline...

She was startled out of her thoughts by the truck slowing down, it's engine seeming to relax after the two hour long above 60 MPH drive. Lucy looked out the back just as they pulled off the highway onto a side road, seemingly in a very rural area. She whipped her head around, looking to the cab, then back to her hobbles, calculating whether she could jump out and make it to the treeline with her legs stuck together like this.

Lucy decided not to try it after thinking about her father's words, spoken through jail cell bars before she was sent off, "Lucy we all know you don't want to go there. But it is the only way we can keep you from being tried as an adult. You will be there until they deem you 'safe' enough to be let back out." He looked at her sternly, even the memory making her sit straight up on the hard bench. Her father never spoke in that tone unless he was giving orders to a subordinate. "Don't you dare mess up Lucy Heartfilia You don't need to be a model citizen, but you do need to curb your destructive tendencies. I expect to hear nothing but good things about you." His voice went soft as he looked down at Lucy, reaching through the bars to hold her dainty hands gently in his massive ones, "you be a good girl and come straight back home, where you'll be safe with daddy, okay?" She remembered looking up at him and responding in her most serious voice, "It shall be as you wish father. I will do my best to stay out of trouble. I understand the strings you had to pull in order for me to get this chance. I appreciate it." She had been scared half to death of leaving her gang, but it was leave them for a few years, or disappear off the map indefinitely.

Lucy felt a great hole inside her ache. She had lost _him_ , which led her down the tumultuous road she walked now, which in turn cost her being separated from her family for an indefinite amount of time. She would stay at this prison until she was released as fully rehabilitated. Lucy recalled hearing this place called, "The Fairy Ranch," but it's official name was, "The Northern Idaho Rehabilitational-Experimental Institute." It was the first of its kind apparently, and had been up and running for about a decade or so now. There were rumors about a few people being there most of their growing up, with no visitors. The thought of never being able to see her friends and family again terrified her. She started to shake uncontrollably, her first reaction to the stress to lash out at someone around her, whether verbally or physically it didn't matter-

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the seat seemingly disappearing out from underneath her as the truck turned onto a driveway. Lucy reacted just in time, grabbing the seat firmly with her calves and fingers, holding herself to the seat. She easily adjusted to this new development, and looked out the back of the truck, expecting to see cold hard pavement. Instead she saw nothing but a nicely sized house with cattle and a horse pasture across the paved road. "Either I'm being kidnapped, or this is going to be heaven." She thought suddenly, surprising herself with her hopefulness. She wasn't fond of the city, and found herself marveling at the view while planning possible escape routes into the surrounding hills, being careful to stay aware of her surroundings, so as to avoid another disappearing seat incident.

As a metal gate came into view, she felt her hopes being smothered by her realistic self, seeing the gate slide closed on well-oiled runners. Before she had too much time to wallow in self-pity however, she heard a male voice yell, "Hey Reedus, did you bring back any fish for happy?" She heard a thump and grunt in the cab, and looked toward it, her mind whirling at full speed, possibilities of kidnapping at the forefront again, though this time at the hands of an unknown assailant rather than the round man that drove her here. She started to struggle with her hobbles again, attempting to get them off so she could make a run for the gates and possibly scale them. Her father would surely forgive her for escaping being kidnapped-

Before she had time to think much farther, a dirty, grinning boy's face popped above the truck's tailgate, surmounted by a shock of dark pink hair with a seemingly scaly scarf wrapped around like a sweatband over the forehead. She had just enough time to register this information before he shouted, "Welcome to the ranch!"

Lucy shot to her feet, taking a fighting stance, preparing to defend herself from this deceptively cheery new threat.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

A. N.: Hello all! :) So, as Natsu chops wood he listens to "New Divide" by Linkin park, "Holiday" and "American Idiot" by Green Day, and "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. BEWARE the latter is not for young ears as it has mature content. You have been warned. I listen to those songs when I saw wood because they have the PERFECT beat for it. That continues until the truck pulls up and he takes out his headphones. After that the theme is "All For You" by Sister Hazel.

Hope ya like it! :) - M. M.

Natsu Dragneel was having a particularly good day. He had woken up on time without getting a beating from Erza, eaten three helpings of oatmeal at breakfast, and was happily chopping wood out in the front yard, waiting for Reedus to arrive with the new people and, more importantly, fresh fish for Happy.

At that thought Natsu looked up at the Russian Blue cat, once more admiring the true blue that shone through in the sunlight. Happy was lounging in the tree that stood tall in the yard, keeping an eye on the driveway. Happy knew exactly who brought his beloved fish, and was determined to get there A.S.A.P. to beg for it.

Natsu smiled and set his iPod to play his working playlist, mostly made up of rock bands like Green Day and Linkin Park, with some hardcore techno mixed in. Natsu shoved his earphones farther in his ear, and turned back to his work. He methodically demolished his five cords of wood for the day, channeling all of his destructive tendencies, putting them to use in a "productive manner" as Erza always said. Natsu was glad Elfman, Mira, and Romeo had volunteered to help him with his firewood duties. He was no good at stacking the wood himself, as his bruises from Erza's fists could attest, so Elfman took 2/3 of the wood to the shed so that Mira could stack it in nice, organized rows. The other 1/3 of the wood Natsu broke into kindling so Romeo could carry the little sticks to the massive bin, walking up the steps to drop them in. It took about the same time for everything involving putting the firewood away to get done, and chopped, so Natsu finished his job only minutes before his friends did.

Natsu tossed his tools into the work shed (nobody ever paid attention to where anything actually went, so the inside of the shed ended up looking like a hurricane hit it, accept after someone got stuck organizing it as a punishment) and trotted over to the open well, hauling up a bucket of water. He downed the entire bucket, slopping the water all over himself in the process. As he dropped the vessel back down the well, he saw Reedus' half ton truck turn the last corner before the Ranch's driveway. He let out a whoop and took out his earbuds, pausing the song he had been listening to.

As the truck turned off of the driveway, he ran to push the button on the fence by the tree to open the high gate, timing it so none of the dogs would be able to escape before the truck came through. As the truck came into the yard he closed the gate again, satisfied that he had prevented the animals' escape. He grinned at the driver, calling out, "Hey Reedus, did you bring back any fish for Happy?" Natsu's grin widened as he saw him hold up a small cooler, most certainly stuffed to the brim with fresh fish. Whenever Reedus went out he stopped at a local fish stand, getting whatever type was cheapest that month.

Happy launched himself out of the tree and through the driver's side window as Reedus parked under the tree, causing him to grunt as the little cat plunked onto his lap. Natsu smiled and turned away from the familiar sight, walking to the back of the truck. He peeked over the tailgate, expecting to find several people, but instead was met with the gaze of a single blonde girl. She was bent over, and had obviously been attempting to get her hobbles off. "Ahh. Another high-risk one," Natsu thought to himself before giving her his best smile and proclaiming, "Welcome to the Ranch!"

She shot to her feet, hands up in a fighting position. She was obviously trying to make her feet do the same, but she was prevented from doing so by the hobbles around her ankles, now even tighter than when she had left for the Ranch. Natsu had thrown his hands up when he saw her get to her feet, trying to convey that he was not a threat, when he found himself automatically reaching for her as she fell crashing to the bed of the truck, knocking herself out on the bench she had been sitting on, opening a nice gash just above her right eye. It was obvious that in her panic to defend herself, she had forgotten her hobbles, and had fallen when she lost her balance.

Natsu was into the truck in a flash, not even bothering to lower the tailgate as he swept her into his arms bridal style. He lept out of the truck, hitting the ground and almost falling as he ran for the infirmary, the sole thought in his mind to get this girl to help. She didn't stir as he banged the swinging doors of the infirmary open, yelling for Porlyusica, the resident doctor. Natsu gently set the bleeding blonde on an open bed, ignoring Cana's grumbling from down the hall, complaining about having a hangover and his yelling making it worse. He yelled for the doctor again, leaving the new arrival's side just long enough to find some gauze to hold to her head in an attempt to slow the blood.

In the back of his mind Natsu struggled to understand why this girl's blood bothered him so much. He was used to seeing blood of course, his and Gray's, his rival. But the sight of the red rivulets running down her face and into her hair completely sent him into panic mode.

He was about to yell for Porlyusica when she appeared at his side holding her "Blood and Guts" bag, as it was labeled. She had multiple bags, all with similar labels, so that they would be able to be fetched if she couldn't do it herself. Natsu was pushed back as the doctor moved to clean and staunch the wound. He fetched everything he was asked to with amazing speed; water from the well, clean moss from the cabinet, yarrow from the bundles in the medicinal pantry. When Porlyusica was finished, the girl's wound was clean, had stopped bleeding, and was bandaged with clean cotton.

Reedus had come in and sat on the bed across from them, waiting for the doctor to finish before he spoke. "Her name is Lucy Heartfilia She is here for assault and battery, breaking and entering, and vandalism. She has average grades, but has above average scores on standardized tests. All in all, a 'good girl gone wrong' as the Director likes to say."

Natsu absorbed this information, comparing it to the girl in front of him. He took in her faded black jeans paired with a well-fitting black Good Charlotte t-shirt, black nail polish over nicely sculpted nails, blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail with only the bangs left out, her dark but well done makeup, soft looking lips, obviously frequently tended with chapstick. He found himself sitting on the bed next to her staring at her, thinking about what she might act like, sound like... "Taste like." a small voice whispered in the back of his mind. He caught himself, shaking his head. He looked around to find that Porlyusica and Reedus had left, leaving him alone with Cana and Lucy.

He smiled down at her, making a decision. "I will be your best friend here. We will have loads of fun and maybe," he trailed off, finishing the thought in his head as he frowned slightly, "maybe you'll learn to love me."

Natsu shook his head, admonishing himself for thinking such a crazy thought, laughing at himself as he walked out of the infirmary, heading off to take a shower before getting his guitar and his laptop so that he could sit and wait for the new girl to wake up. Natsu looked up at the sky on his way to the Unit 1 dorms, smiling as he broke into a run, eager to be get back before she woke up.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

A. N.: Hey guys! So, the first song to play for this chapter is "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling. It's a sweet song and I thought it was appropriate for both the Natsu/Lucy and Loke/Lucy relationships. :) That's the only song for this chapter. :)

I promise the pace will pick up eventually guys... I just gotta get them out of the infirmary first. XD I write for the feelings/character development, and that doesn't happen very quickly. So please forgive the slow pace.

Let me know what canon character you want to meet next and why you think they would go well in my story! :) I will try to include them in the next chapter I write. :)

As always, please R&R! :) I love hearing what you guys think! :) - M. M.

Lucy awoke to the sound of a softly playing guitar and the sweet scent of incense. She rolled over onto her side, facing toward Loke, sighing happily. She loved the song he was playing. It had been their song ever since he was assigned as her protector and companion after her mother died. She smiled wider as she heard him start to sing along. "So lately, been wondrin', who will be there to take my place? When I'm gone, you'll need love, to light the shadows on your face..."

Lucy's eyes shot wide open and she sat up, looking toward the pink-haired boy singing. In her concussion-induced stupor, she had thought that she was back in the home infirmary, being kept safe by the dapper guardian. Instead she was sitting in an unknown place, with a boy she didn't even know, and she had a pounding headache. Said boy was sitting on the bed to her immediate right, crosslegged with a guitar across his thighs, back facing her as he stared at his laptop's screen, a massive pair of headphones on his head.

The blonde reached up and started to gather up her hair from where someone had taken it down, reaching for her hair ties that had been placed on the nightstand, and putting her hair back into its high ponytail. She seemed to take more time than is normal, but that was because she was checking that the tiny tracking device hidden in the metal was secure and functional. She had several more like this one, gifted to her by Loke, so he would be able to tell where she was at all times. In the past this had caused Lucy no end of discomfort and humiliation as she was drug back home after sneaking out; but now she welcomed the familiar slow pulsing the little device emitted.

Lucy felt the bandage around her head, carefully maneuvering so as to not disturb it. She concluded that must be where her headache was coming from, and probed it with her fingers, trying to figure out what happened. After deducing that it wasn't life threatening she adjusted it to a more comfortable position and settled herself down in the bed.

Sensing that she was in no immediate danger, Lucy looked around at her surroundings. She saw the incense in the red dragon's head holder, obviously well loved, but clean and cared for, sitting on the nightstand between her and the boy. It wasn't a scent she was familiar with, which was rare because she was a regular in her favorite incense shop. Moving on from that, she looked to her left, farther into the building, noticing the dozens of other beds exactly like hers, all dressed in crisp white sheets. It looked like a proper infirmary, not a speck of grime to be seen.

Noting that no one else seemed to be in the building, Lucy turned back to study the young man sitting on the bed next to hers. She had already noticed the headphones, but now she saw that he had an attached microphone that he was singing into, presumably so that he could record it. Her eyebrow raised as she thought, "I wonder how he managed to get that type of equipment here. I was under the impression that we wouldn't be allowed any personal belongings." She grinned at the thought of being allowed her own instruments. She wouldn't have much else to do here in the long hours, so she could finally learn to play the piano. She pushed these thoughts aside for now, focusing once again on the boy in front of her.

He had broad shoulders and was very well muscled. It was obvious he worked out regularly, and she could see now that she was right about the white scaly thing being a scarf; he wore it now over a black vest with gold edging. He was wearing white sweats and sandals as well. "He doesn't look to bad," she thought to herself. Assessing his overall look, she decided it really worked for him; he looked both comfortable and presentable.

He chose that very moment to turn around and check on her. Lucy hadn't even notice he had finished singing she was so lost in her own thoughts. His emerald eyes dilated slightly as he caught her eyes and held her gaze, his mouth slightly open until he gave her a wide grin, his eyes almost scrunching shut in his excitement. "Hiya! My name is Natsu! I didn't get a chance to say very much before you freaked out and whacked your head." He paused and rubbed the back of his head, looking away as he said sheepishly, "I'm really sorry about that by the way. I didn't mean to startle you that bad. I didn't mean to startle you at all actually." Natsu looked back up at Lucy, a searching look on his face.

"No, that's okay Natsu. You seem like a nice guy, I'm sure you didn't do it on purpose." Lucy said out loud, smiling, but inwardly she was thinking, "Huh, so THAT'S what happened. I guess I must have hit so hard that whatever it was must have broken my skin." The boy smiled again at her reassuring statement, and lept up, catching his guitar at the last possible second.

"Okay! Let's go get some food!" He checked his watch. "They should be serving dinner now. You've been out cold for an entire day. Our doctor, Porlyusica, said that you were extremely exhausted and that your body needed to rest so she said to be careful not to wake you." While Natsu was babbling, he was collecting Lucy's jacket and boots, quickly helping her get both on, pausing suddenly as he blanched, halfway through shoving her left foot into her right boot. Lucy took this opportunity to take the boot from him, glad that he hadn't noticed the small knife hidden on the inside of the ankle, and put it on the correct foot.

As she reached for the second boot, she felt him grasp her wrist tightly, and before he could take another breath, her boot knife was at his throat, pressed tightly against his main artery. To her dismay, his look of worry changed to a look of joy. She flinched backwards, not used to this response, moving the knife away from his throat. He grinned wider, and in a flash, had her down on the floor under him, her knife in his hand, pressed to her own neck. She gasped and struggled, trying to get out from under him, but to no avail. In her mind she began to panic. Lucy was very rarely bested on the battlefield, and she didn't know this strange boy who was completely in control of her body.

As Lucy drew in a breath to scream, Natsu stood up, pulling her with him. He placed the boot knife in her hand and smiled down at her gently. "You don't have to be afraid of me. We are all family here. I don't know what environment you lived in before, but here we have a no-violence policy accept in the boxing ring, arena, or outside in the yard." Lucy stood there completely stunned. She had been ready to slit this boy's throat should he make himself a threat, then he pinned her, showing her how superior his skills were, and then he warned her about the rules? Maybe her initial thought about Natsu was wrong. But just in case it was right, she would remain on guard. This boy was one of the strangest she had ever met.

As he turned around to gather up his things she thought, "God only knows what other freaks I'm going to meet here."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A. N.: Hey all! So, this chapter is from Gray's P.O.V. I hope you like it! \^-^/ I was going to go back to Natsu's P.O.V. but I decided to spice it up a bit. Please don't hate me if his personality isn't quite what you expected.

Our favorite redhead appears this chapter! :-D Well, MY favorite redhead. Who doesn't love Titania!? :-) Wait, don't answer that...

Anyways, folks there isn't a particular song for this chapter. I've decided that there won't always be one, because I am lazy and don't want to be forced to write a chapter to fit the song.

As always R&R! Tell me who's perspective you like most, and I'll try to write in it more! :) Yet again, thank you for reading! :)

Enjoy! :) - M. M.

Gray Fullbuster was sitting in the common room of the Unit 1 building, sharpening his throwing knives. One of the best kept secrets of this facility was that all members were permitted weapons, as long as they were only used in supervised sparring matches and training. Gray was widely held as the master of throwing knives, second only to Unit 1 Head Erza Scarlet. The redheaded demoness was sitting across from Gray, a sleek silver laptop on her lap and stylish red headphones over her ears. "No doubt looking up more ways in which to kick all of our asses," Gray sourly thought. His frown deepened as he accidentally sliced his palm open, not having been paying enough attention to the task at hand.

Gray ground his teeth and growled slightly at himself, gathering his tools up, walking to his room, and dumping them unceremoniously on his bed. He glared down at the offending knife, holding his wound closed with his uninjured hand. "Take deep breaths, work through your anger, rationalize it, and then act accordingly," he muttered, parroting Elfman's words from earlier that week. Gray closed his eyes, and followed Elfman's instructions. After the initial adrenaline rush passed, Gray concluded that he shouldn't be angry at the knives, they were inanimate objects after all, and that he should be more careful while dealing with sharp objects in the future. For now, he should get to the infirmary so Porlyusica could fix his hand. He nodded to himself, opening his eyes, and moved out of his room, heading for the door.

"Hey Gray," the redhead on the couch called out to him. "Sorry Erza, can't talk now. I cut my hand pretty bad and I gotta get it fixed up." Gray held up the injured hand for her to see, the blood seeping out of the wound and down his wrist. Erza's eyes widened slightly and she disentangled herself from her technology quickly, moving to open the door for him. "I shall accompany you. I heard the new girl Natsu is so interested in is currently in the infirmary. She will be assigned to our unit, due to her record." Her last sentence was lost on Gray. HIs mind had immediately begun working on how to steal this new girl away from Natsu, or at least make it seem like he wanted to.

Natsu and Gray went way back. They had been in the same high school once upon a time, on the track team together. They were at the top of the team, constantly competing to be the best. As their competitive sides butted heads, their many shared interests brought them closer together. They both enjoyed sports, obviously, but they also loved music, and both were members of a popular band together at one point. Their strange friendship grew, and it eventually lead to them trying to oneup one another by playing practical jokes on the school. As can be expected with high school boys, it quickly got out of hand, and led them to be expelled and arrested. Gray was caught second, and therefore Natsu made it to this facility before he did. Natsu was quick to point this out whenever the issue of seniority was brought up.

"However," Gray thought, and evil glint forming in his eye, "the one area I have always been able to beat Natsu in is relationships." In high school, Natsu never really attracted that many girls, and didn't seem to be interested in the majority of them. Gray however, always had a group of girls around him, begging to be his date to the next school dance or some new movie coming out. He never really got into a serious relationship with any of them, but he took a few of the prettier or more interesting ones on dates every once in awhile. He was more attracted to the shy ones than the outgoing ones, in all honesty, but to maintain face he tried to take at least one of the more popular girls to a school function every once in awhile. This isn't to say that he was slutting around, he was just maintaining his reputation. Or at least that's what he told himself.

Natsu, on the other hand, was a bumbling idiot when it came to women. As a general rule of thumb, he either blew them off completely, friendzoned them immediately, or liked them and screwed it up before it began. He had a relationship that lasted a few months back in freshman year, but their spark faded and they ended up just going back to being friends. It had been a couple years since he had taken an interest in someone.

"This will be perfect," Gray thought to himself. He would flirt with this new girl just enough to provoke Natsu, and Natsu would go up in flames, just like he always did when he felt his territory being infringed upon. "Then maybe he'll actually get together with this chick, and quit being such a royal pain in my ass," Gray smirked, "and I might even get a fight or two out of it."

Gray was still smirking as he walked into the infirmary after Erza, pulling his loose shirt over his head absentmindedly, somehow managing to not get blood all over it. As he dropped it to the ground, he looked around for the new arrival. She was kneeling in the center aisle, tying her boot while Natsu was gathering up his music gear from the bed next to the one she was obviously previously occupying. He noted her beautiful blonde hair, and her black clothing. "She'll be an interesting one," he thought to himself, chuckling as he noted the unmistakeable blush on both her and Natsu's faces. "Good. They're getting to know one another," he mused before he was startled by Erza bellowing, "DOCTOR PORLYUSICA!" at the top of her lungs.

Gray sighed and plodded over to the open bed next to the new girl's, feeling Natsu's animosity-filled glare against his bare skin, as well as the girl's curiosity filled one.

Gray did not fail to make the connection between them.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

A. N.: Hey y'all! :D Thank you sooo much for all of the follows and such! It's really given me the confidence I need to write more often! :)

There isn't a song as of yet. I know... I'm a slacker. I promise, when stuff starts getting more exciting, I will have more songs. I have one in mind, but I feel like it's to early for it. And I want to write a chapter especially for it.

I'm seriously contemplating doing a time skip. I'm TIRED of the BORING stuff... So after this next chapter, once everything is set up, I'll think about a skip. :) Tell me what you guys think. Should I skip, or no? Let me know in a review! ;)

As always, I hope you enjoy this chapter! Please review or message! Let me know what you think! :) Have fun! - M. M.

Natsu watched Gray come into the infirmary, and noticed the cut on his hand that was bleeding all over. He felt a little concerned, but concealed it with a grimace. He mentally dismissed the black haired boy and looked over to Lucy, only to see that she was looking at Gray. She watched him take his shirt off and sit down, her eyes widening ever so slightly at the sight of his muscles rippling beneath his pale skin. Natsu watched Gray check out the new girl, the look he gave her very familiar, too familiar.

Natsu felt his body temperature rise and his face flush. He wasn't about to let Gray steal another girl from him. Natsu hadn't had feelings for anyone in years, and as soon as he met this girl, he knew there was something different about her. Maybe it was how she smelled, or maybe the way her hair felt in his hand when he took it down for her (he had noticed how she tried to sleep with her head straight on the pillow, but her hair prevented it), or, HELL, maybe it was the way she looked at him when she held her knife to his throat. Yeah. That probably had something to do with it. She looked so fierce, not an ounce of self-doubt in her eyes. He felt bad for overpowering her, but he needed her to understand how things worked around here, and he didn't want to seem like a weakling. He needed to have her respect, because after respect came trust, and after trust came friendship and after friendship... Well, whatever was going to come after that, he was NOT going to let Gray ruin it for them.

Natsu glared at Gray's back as he sat down, imagining all the things he would do to him if he had the chance. "If he makes a move on her, I am going to slice him up with his own damn knives," Natsu muttered, his eyes narrowing as his left hand tightened on the neck of his favorite guitar, the other clenching into a tight fist at his side.

His eyes snapped back to the new girl as she walked over to Gray's side, her hand extended in greeting. "Hello, my name is Lucy. What's your name?" She smiled sweetly at him, causing Natsu's stomach to flip and clench painfully. On one hand, she was SO cute, and on the other, she was gracing GRAY with that smile. What the hell was wrong with this picture! Natsu was the one that had brought her to the infirmary when she got hurt, not Gray! Why didn't she smile at HIM like that?

Natsu's blood positively boiled when Gray smiled back at her, taking her hand and shaking it for a few seconds longer than necissary. "My name is Gray Fullbuster. It's a pleasure to meet you. I regret that I was not the one that met you at the gate when you first arrived, instead of this lummox." Grey gestured to Natsu, who was standing frozen in place, his face turning to an unhealthy crimson color.

Just as Natsu was about to loose a torrent of less then PG13 material upon Gray's ears, Porlyusica came through the doorway to her office, once again weilding her trusty "Blood and Guts" bag. She shooed Lucy off to the side, grabbing Gray's hand and taking care of it. Natsu quickly gathered his things and grabbed Lucy's hand saying, "Hey, let's go get some food! I'm starving, and you HAVE to be hungry by now!" He noticed that while she didn't squeeze his hand back, she didn't struggle to be let go either. Lucy looked up at him and smiled, chirping a "Sure!" before turning back to Gray, much to Natsu's chagrin. "I'll see ya later then Gray?" She quickly turned to the Erza and said, "I'm so sorry, I didn't catch your name."

Erza had been leaning on the wall by the entrance, observing all the goings-on with a small smile on her lips. Now she stood and offered her hand to Lucy, squeezing tightly enough that Lucy's fingers turned white. "My name is Erza. I will be your Unit head, so we will have plenty of time to get to know one another."

"WHAAAATTTTTT?" Natsu yowled. Everyone in the room looked at him as a huge and delighted grin split his face, and he grabbed Lucy's shoulders, shaking her slightly. "We will get to hang out all the time! That's going to be great!" Natsu noticed how Lucy's face went from confused, to wary, to smiling as she processed this information.

"That sounds cool! Is Gray in our Unit as well?" Natsu's face fell and he released Lucy as she turned back to Gray, waiting for his answer. "Yeah, I am actually. It'll be nice having you around. That way I won't have to deal with being left alone with flame brain and Miss Uptight over there all the time." He winked at Lucy before Erza stomped up to him, slamming the side of her fist down onto his head.

"What do you mean 'Miss Uptight'? I show plenty of non-uptight qualities!" As Gray scrambled to defend himself while not moving his injured hand out of Porlyusica's grip, Natsu grinned and quietly pulled Lucy out of the infirmary, once again holding her small hand in his.

He looked down at her face, and upon seeing her frown rushed to reassure her that there would be food where they were going. "We have a good cook, and plenty of seasonal food to go around! We harvested the squash a few days ago so that and some beef is probably on the menu for tonight!" His mouth watered at the thought, momentarily forgetting the girl he was towing around. He snapped back to reality when he felt her gently tug against his grip.

"May I please have my hand back? Erza kinda squished it, so it's a little sore." Natsu blushed and released her hand, not realizing how much he liked holding it before she took it back. He couldn't help feeling a twinge of disappointment before he turned back to the matter at hand.

"So, the eating hall is right up here, and the dorms are in back of and to the right of the infirmary. Our dorm is the one farthest away from the barn." Natsu gestured first to the long rectangular building running along the fence before pointing to a collection of weird looking buildings farther up the dirt driveway, and a barn.

"Why is ours the farthest away from the barn? Is there a reason?" Lucy inquired, surprised to see Natsu's lips twist in a grimace.

"Well, after the first 3 times I set the barn on fire, I SWEAR it was an accident," he assured the small blonde as her eyes went wide, "the director decided to move our dorm as far away from it as possible."

"Ahhh," Lucy breathed as they walked up the stairs to the food hall, "so you like fire huh?"

"Oh yeah, but I don't just like it, I love it!" Lucy smiled softly, surprised by the boy's enthusiasm. He had thrown his arms up in the air, accidentally dropping his laptop before he caught it right before it slammed into the porch. He grinned at her, returning her smile with one of his own.

"I want to make her smile all the time," Natsu thought as he opened the door to the food hall, the smell of hamburgers and baked squash crashing over them like a wave, causing both their stomachs' to rumble loudly. Natsu rushed over to the food bar, Lucy not far behind, and started piling his plate high, attempting to juggle his guitar, laptop, and his massive headphones while still getting food.

Lucy took mercy on him and took his laptop from him, tucking it under her arm as she moved along the counter. She watched his antics out of the corner of her eye, a small smile gracing her lips as she mused to herself, "He is such a loveable fool."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

A. N.: I'm so sorry guys, I feel like this chapter is total filler, but I felt TOTALLY GUILTY for starting a new story without updating this one… I'm sorry.

I hope this chapter isn't to much of a disappointment. Please let me know what you think about it in a review! I'm hoping Lucy isn't to OOC, I feel like I'm totally screwing her up, to be honest. But she's gotta be at least a little OOC, right? I mean, she's a mean 'n lean gang member trying to deal with her feelings. **Mutters to self in a corner.**

I hope you like it. I stayed up until 4 A.M. pushing to finish it. -_-

I seem to only think of songs that match up to Natsu's POV. -_- Gosh darn it.

Enjoy! :) - M. M. A.K.A. Sleep Deprived Writer

* * *

 _"He is such a loveable fool."_

Lucy startled herself with her sudden thought. "Where on Earth did that come from?" She muttered to herself, skillfully balancing her tray in one hand while holding the laptop under her arm, serving herself with her other hand.

"Hey Luce, where do you wanna sit?" Her head jerked up at the question, staring at Natsu, who was hovering just behind her, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "How the hell did he sneak up behind me? First he bests me on combat, and now I didn't even see or hear him move up behind me!" Her teeth ground slightly before she controlled herself, keeping her thoughts to herself as she retrieved the silverware she had been reaching for when he interrupted her reverie.

Her eyes scanned the large room, noting the log-cabin feel to it. She couldn't see through the logs of the walls, they were so tightly fit together. She also noted the smooth wood floor underneath her feet, plainly worn more where the line to the food bar would surely form during normal meal-times. Her eyes fell on the simple yet elegant tables and benches scattered throughout the food hall, noting the subtle (and some not-so-subtle) stares she was receiving from people around the hall.

Lucy spotted a table in the far corner with flame, ice, and sword carvings on its supports, one leg conspicuously left untouched.

"Let's go sit there. I like the carvings on it." "YES!" Lucy spun around at the sound, not having realized that in her inspection of the room, she had stepped away from Natsu, farther into the room. Her eyes narrowed. "Are you ALWAYS this loud and rambunctious?"

"Yes, yes he is. It's how he shows his manliness!" This time Lucy had detected someone walking up behind her and she turned around in time to see a large and muscled man seemingly ambling towards them, sporting a white t-shirt with the word "manly" printed on it in large, fully capitalized fluorescent pink letters. His white hair stood straight up, and he had a scar across one of his eyes. The strange man smoothly brushed past Lucy, mumbling a soft, "Excuse me miss," before reaching out for Natsu's guitar and headphones, which were in danger of being dropped due to Natsu's attempts to eat while standing. "You know Mira would kill you if she saw you eating her food standing up like an imbecile. That is the only rule she asks be followed as far as food goes in the hall." While giving his little speech, the white haired man leaned over Natsu, seemingly intimidating him with bulk alone. "Natsu seemed to be holding out fairly well, but when the name 'Mira' was mentioned, he practically melted. I wonder who this 'Mira' character is." Lucy thought to herself.

Suddenly remembering that he had not introduced himself, the large man turned to Lucy. "Hello Lucy. I came by earlier to the infirmary to check on you, but you were still out cold. My name is Elfman, and I am one of the resident counselors, handymen, and occasional warden. I also run the sparring ring and the gym, so when you are ready, please come give me a visit. I would love to get to know you."

"If I told you even half of what I've done, you would have a bounty on your head," Lucy idly thought, "but then again, if you run the sparring ring, you should be able to handle yourself." "Thank you very much for your concern! I would very much like to visit your sparring ring, and I am sure I will see you at the gym." She replied out loud with a rare honest smile. Lucy was a self-professed gym rat, she couldn't be kept away for long.

Elfman smiled back at her before handing Natsu back his things, now confident that he wouldn't be dropping them in his eagerness to eat. Lucy turned and walked to the table she had selected, attempting to ignore the stares she was receiving, as well as the intense hunger pains from her stomach. As soon as she sat own, Lucy set upon her food like a hungry animal, somehow managing to maintain her lady-like dignity and not spill on herself, while simultaneously keeping pace with Natsu as he also practically inhaled his food on the other side of the table.

As they both finished their plates of food, they looked up at each other, grinning simultaneously as they raced to get more food from the counter. Lucy let Natsu go first, not wanting to be bowled over. She already knew he was faster than she, and didn't have a death wish.

They rushed back to their seats, laughing and grinning at each other like idiots as they fell over other benches and chairs, even going so far as to leap from table to table in their mad dash to get back to their seats. As they tumbled down onto their benches, Natsu was already stuffing his face, whereas Lucy was going at a much slower pace, not being as hungry as before. Natsu however, was still going strong, somehow managing to breathe around the massive volume of baked squash and hamburgers he was consuming.

After Natsu and Lucy had finished eating, people started coming up to their table, introducing themselves to Lucy and teasing Natsu. Lucy got along with one girl named Levy especially well, despite her friends Jet and Droy going on about how Lucy was going to turn her lesbian. Lucy was hoping she and Levy would be in the same dorm, but was disappointed when she learned they were not. She was excited to learn that their dorms were right next to one another however, and they made plans to meet up at Lucy's new room as soon as Lucy's stuff arrived, so that she could get help unpacking and decorating.

Lucy was somewhat ashamed of herself for admitting to it, but she partially liked this girl because she was so physically un-intimidating. She was short, with blue hair and lovely brown eyes. "It's to early to tell, but I think I might like this girl." Lucy thought to herself contemplatively, internally crossing her arms and leaning back with her head cocked to the side. "We will have to see how it all turns out." She found herself looking across the table at the ever-grinning Natsu, meeting his eyes before turning away, a faint blush dusting her cheeks.

From the opposite end of the room, a three pairs of dark blue, brown, and light blue eyes stared over an upturned table, the light blue pair of eyes looking down frequently, taking notes on the two's behavior.

"Are you getting all of this Mira?" the voice belonging to the brown eyes asked.

"Yep~! Every last detail. We will have them together by the end of the month."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A. N.: Oh my goodness… I'm a horrible updater. I am SO SO SO SO SO SORRY! My life got uber busy as soon as school came around, so I got really creatively drained for awhile. I'm naturally a hermit, but I hang out with people at college more than I probably should.

I hope you guys forgive me, and take this chapter as an offering. **Kneels with chapter in hands** It's a different style, because I kinda felt like trying a new style out. Tell me what you think in a review! :)

This chapter is really short, so it doesn't really have a song. The next chapter is in the works though, so it should have one! :-D

Happy reading! :) - M. M.

Lucy's POV

The night after I woke up in the infirmary, I slept in the common room of Unit 1's dormitory. Erza had a military-issue sleeping bag that she let me borrow, so I set it up on the couch. Erza herself drug her bed into the living room, presumeably to, "prevent the boys from digging early graves." She was convinced Natsu or Grey would come out of their rooms in the middle of the night and get themselves into trouble.

I'm still not sure if she was meaning I would kill them, or if she would.

Either way, we spent the night talking about the 'Fairy Ranch' as they liked to call it, our interests, and our pasts. Erza disclosed to me that she was not far from being discharged, but that even if she was, Director Makarov had guaranteed her a job there as a warden, should she want it. I perked up at this, as I was beginning to take to the redhead. By the time she fell asleep, I felt like I had my bearings in this new environment, thanks to the information Erza gave me.

I awoke to the feeling of being stared at, warm breath ghosting across my face. I shifted, seemingly in my sleep, curling inside Erza's sleeping bag, reaching for my knife in my boot, only to realize it wasn't there.

"Generally, people don't wear boots to bed, even if it does keep weapons handy." I heard Grey's voice from behind me, not the direction of the warm breath, and my eyes shot open. My gaze was immediately held by a pair of dark hazel eyes with gold flecks. I was only able to see the gold and green because of the sunlight streaming in through the window, otherwise I was sure they would look black.

Natsu leaned back from his position directly in front of me. His face had been mere centimeters away from mine.

I glared at him.

"You told him about my knife?" I screeched, sitting up and swinging my legs onto the floor, extricating myself from the sleeping bag.

I heard Gray laugh loudly, then felt him lean his elbows on the back of the couch, his chin coming to rest on the top of my shoulder. I leaned away from him and turned my head to face him, suddenly staring into the darkest blue eyes I had ever seen. My eyes widened as I leaned forward slightly, my lips parting slightly as I stared, studying them intently.

"Your eyes are the color of the sky just before midnight." The words escaped my mouth without my wanting them to. I blushed furiously, practically leaping off the couch, clambering over Natsu, the coffee table, and the opposite couch before making it to my newly delivered bags, grabbing a set of clothes and my boots before running into the bathroom, muttering something about taking a shower before slamming the door.

I plunked down onto the toilet, slinging my clothes into the sink before slamming my head into my hands, groaning at my own awkwardness. I couldn't believe that I had said something so stupid. What was wrong with me?

I sighed and stood, going to the bathroom and taking a shower, absentmindedly using the red containers of shampoo and conditioner, my mind still evaluating the look in Natsu's eyes as I climbed over him in my rush to escape.

Had there been jealousy in his eyes?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A. N.: So, happy fast update day! The last one was short, but I felt so horrid that I just needed to bust one out…

So, not much to ramble about. My cat was sick for weeks and weeks but I think she has finally kicked it, thank god. I was getting worried. Those little old lady cats man, they're tough. And I separated my hamsters again… The little men were fighting. **Sigh**. But it's all good now! XD What weird pets do you guys have?

Again, no song, as this one is just setting up the Levy x Natsu relationship. I think they're uber cute as a Broship. TBH Gajeevy is my OTP, so you will almost never see anything other than that in my fics. I won't even take requests for one shots of anything defying that.

Another A. N. at the end! :)

Natsu's POV

I was sure that I would burst into flames any second. First, there was the look Lucy gave me when she woke up.

I had never seen anyone so beautiful. Her eyes were the color of hot chocolate on Christmas morning, hot, fierce, and somehow spicy.

I like pepper in my hot chocolate.

Bite me.

But that look she gave Gray… The adoration was plain on her face. I wanted to be the reason for her to look like that. Then what she said to him…

I swear my heart cracked.

But then it swelled again when she climbed over me. She touched me, and simply the feeling of her hands on my shoulders and her knees in my stomach made the weight on my chest disappear even as she crawled over it.

She cringed from Gray, but had absolutely no problem crawling all over me.

I grinned from ear to ear as I focused on that happy thought, standing up and pulling on my favorite black sleeveless shirt, popping in a headphone as I stood. It was rare that I didn't have at least one earbud in at all times. Music kept me calm. It was the easiest thing to keep me distracted from my urges to set things aflame due to my anger and anxiety.

Just as I started rolling up Lucy's loaner sleeping bag, I heard a knock before a certain bluenette peeked around the door.

"Hey Natsu, is Lucy still here? I saw her stuff being delivered last night." Levy smiled at me as she stepped in, glancing around the room, looking for her new friend.

"Oh, Gray freaked her out by touching her, so she's showering right now to get his germs off of her." I grinned cheekily, knowing that Gray would hear my slightly raised voice through his door where he was changing. As if on cue, he burst through his door, obviously halfway through changing.

"WHAT WAS THAT FLAME- oh. Hi Levy. Sorry, I didn't know you were here." Levy just rolled her eyes and said calmly, "Gray. Clothes." "AWWW SHIT. Oops. Sorry again Levy." Gray quickly turned and moped back into his room, glaring at Natsu before slamming his door shut.

Solid "thunk" sounds could be heard from the other side of the door as he practiced his knife throwing on it. Everyone knew that Levy didn't do well with swearing or yelling, so we all tried to not do it around her, though she had gotten far better in recent months after she started buying self-help books and reading them. Still, old habits die hard.

Levy and I sat down on the couch and chatted about the newest book she had read. It was our daily ritual that she would summarize all the new books she had read for me so that I wouldn't have to read them myself. I loved the fantasy ones, and if I liked the summary enough, I would ask her to get me a copy. She stopped lending me books after the first one I borrowed came back "reeking of smoke, smeared with ash, and OH MY GOD NATSU YOU BURNT IT!" Levy had taken off the dust cover to find it ever so slightly burnt on the spine from where I had been leaning to close to my candle and had scorched it. Since then she has bought me my own copies. In exchange, I did all of her heavy lifting chores, and let her have free copies of all of my music, as well as doing any requests she asked of me. I even did a Justin Beiber cover for her once. Yep. Sibling love knows no bounds.

Once we had settled on her buying a book on a child, a brownie, and a silver dragon we ambled over to my room so I could play her the song I was working on. As always, I assembled the stool I made for her from the parts I kept stashed in my multitude of cubbies around my room. She always complained that she never had anywhere to sit besides my hammock, so I decided to make a stool for anyone who decided that they would like to listen to my music on any given day. It was very simple, but it broke down into pieces for easy storage.

I sat on my piano bench, picking up my guitar as she moved the stool to sit in the farthest corner of my room, facing the door. I began to strum the opening to "Wherever You Will Go" by The Calling. I heard the water shut off in the shower, and was surprised when I heard the door open and Lucy step out. I felt myself loosing my rhythm at the prospect of her listening to me, but I forced myself to focus, loosing myself in the music.

A. N.: So, yay for Natsu logic, right? I think that somebody like him would just be happy that she touched him, ya know? Anyways, let me know what you thought of the style, if you think he/they are OOC, blah blah blah.

You know the drill.

What do you think about the Levy x Natsu relationship? I think it's cute, because of their character differences. But then again, Levy deals with Gajeel uber well.

OH! I also wanted to have a small poll. Who should I bring next; the zodiac, or Gajeel and Juvia? I gotta admit, I kinda ship LoLu pretty intensely. Lucy is just to darn easy to ship, am I right?

Does anybody know what book I referenced? Let me know your guess in your review! :) Have a great night guys and gals! :)

-M. M.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

A. N.: Oh boy. Guys, I'm so sorry. I know it's been months, but they have been really hard…

My birthday was this November 14th (finally 18 yay!) and I came home after a fun dinner the night before and found one of my hamsters had died in his sleep… Plus my classes have been HELL.

On the other hand, I have a person now, and she makes me uber happy. ^_^ She's been keeping me sane this whole time, and encouraging me.

Anyways guys, I hope you like the new characters I am putting into this chapter. I'm literally going to write until I don't have any more story planned out.

The general theme for this one is family, so the theme song for this chapter is "Welcome to Our Family" by Jump 5. There's a good AMV for it on YouTube here: watch?v=zBkQdO-82A4&index=8&list=UUz2WJ-u01BtiNR_5_BHoMw.

Enjoy! - M. M.

Lucy's POV:

I could hear Natsu begin to play his guitar when I stepped out of the bathroom. It was the same song he had been playing earlier when I woke up. I walked over to his doorway, seeing Levy sitting on a stool, listening. She was watching him play, her foot tapping gently on one of the stool's crosspieces.

I listened, entranced, to the sound of his fingers moving over the strings, his soft yet rich voice singing flawlessly along with the music. I stood there until he finished, a small smile on my face and an ache in my heart.

I missed my Zodiacs.

When I was very young, I spent almost every waking moment with my mother. We would play together all the time, and she would teach me about the stars; their stories, positions, and how to tell where you were based upon the stars alone.

Over time, we gathered more people to us. People we loved. I was young and obsessed with the stars, so I gave them all nicknames, that became more used than their real names, to the point that I don't remember their real names.

All accept Loke.

First was Capricorn. His ability to rock climb was amazing. He used to strap me on his back, and climb up the side of our mansion. Later, he tried teaching me to do it myself, but I was to small to do it without help. We were found out by my mother eventually, but after the initial shock of seeing her six year old little girl halfway up the side of a three-story mansion, she just laughed, stating, "Just don't let her get hurt Capricorn. I know you will protect her from all harm." He had known my mom since she was a teenager, acting has her personal servant and protector for many, many years until her death. Afterwards, I never saw him again.

Second, was Cancer. My mom helped him out when he was on the losing side of a knife fight, both her and Capricorn fending off the ruffians and saving his life. His scissors from beauty school were his only weapons against them. My mother helped him through beauty school; paying his tuition, making sure he had the highest quality tools possible- and in return Cancer was always at my mother's disposal for anything scissor-related, be it cutting her hair or her enemies. I am still in touch with him, though he has his own studio now, so he can't always be with me. He recently got a boyfriend as well, so I don't like to call favors in with him if I can help it.

Third was Aquarius. She is a professional mermaid, working mostly in high-class places. My mom was walking to her car when she saw a couple men cornering a young Aquarius by her own car after one of her shows. Needless to say, my mother beat the men within an inch of their lives, and took the young mermaid under her wing, teaching her how to protect herself. My mother was a couple years older than Aquarius, and growing up, Aquarius was my ever-grumpy aunt. After my mother died, Aquarius easily stepped into the role of surrogate mother. She no longer felt obligated to my mother, but she "just can't leave a brat like you to try and figure stuff out for yourself. If I do that you'll never get a boyfriend" as she put it.

Later in my life, keeping with the trend of the Zodiac names, I met Taurus and Loke. Father hired them to be my official bodyguards as soon as we started having trouble keeping ahold of our gang territory.

I adored the huge loveable black man instantly. Taurus has a gauged septum piercing that inspired his name, as well as his deep southern accent. I always used to envision cows speaking with southern accents, when I was little, so he was dubbed "Cow Man" for many years. He has been by my side nearly constantly ever since he was assigned "udder-ly amazing detail" as he used to call it. At first I found it crude, but now I would do anything to hear his rumbling voice make perverted comments about whatever I am wearing.

Last came Loke.

At first, I found his flirting annoying to the extreme, but after having a serious conversation or two with him, I saw the pure spirit within him. He still continues to borderline harass me, but I know now that it is his way of showing affection and his love for me. He is as close to me as a brother. On the nights that I couldn't sleep, he would either get Aquarius to come sleep with me, or he would keep watch over me himself. He never once did anything untoward, and I never had any nightmares when he was with me. He taught me hand to hand combat, as well as how to use my whip. Everyone trained me with the weapons they specialized with, but I trained with him the most. It always made him happy when I did well in the ring or on the mat, his hair moving as he clapped looking eerily similar to a cat's ears twitching. That's how he became my Leo.

Because we needed a way to tell each other if there was trouble, we came up with a code. If there was trouble, we would call each other Lucy and Leo, otherwise it is princess and Loke. The last time I called him Leo, I was crying on my bed after I had my heart broken. Before I had started down the path that led me to here.

That night he had played "Wherever You Will Go" on his acoustic guitar that he kept stashed under my bed for impromptu guitar lessons. He promised that he would stay with me, no matter how bad it got.

The opening of the front door of our dorm brought me out of my thoughts. I found myself staring into Levy's eyes, her brown eyes glossy with unshed tears. She got down off her stool and came up to me, hugging me gently as I felt Erza come up behind me. I had not realized it, but I had started crying silently, the reality of my situation coming crashing down on me.

I was alone.

"Well," said my small internal voice, "maybe not." I looked down at the blue hair of my new friend, the first real female friend I made in this crazy place, and gently hugged her back. As we let go of each other, Erza cleared her throat.

"Excuse me Lucy, but as Unit Head, it is my job to get you set up here and show you how everything works." She had a pink laptop case under her arm, as well as what seemed like a sword on her other hip.

I wiped my tears away and smiled at her. "Yeah, no problem." I squared my shoulders, turning completely away from Natsu, who was staring at me with an indecipherable look on his face. "Do I need anything in particular? I'm wearing boots today, if that's a concern."

Erza gestured for me to come sit on the couch, where Gray had come out to sit as well. I sat on the opposite end, as far away as I could get from him. It wasn't that I didn't like him. I just didn't like boys.

When Erza sat down she handed me the laptop case, explaining that every "participant" as she called the people here, was issued their own laptop for the duration of their stay, and were required to take online courses.

"There are a designated four hours per day in which every person must be working on their work in the common room in their unit's building. This is from 10 A.M. to noon, and from 1 P.M. to 3 P.M. in the summer. There is a different winter schedule, because those are the warmest hours of the day. During the summer, the director wants all of us inside during those times, unless it is a weekend."

I nodded my understanding, and Erza launched into an explanation of how the online classes worked, helping me get signed up for my classes, and get in contact with all my teachers. After we got my classes all sorted out, and my new (loaner) laptop stashed in my room, Erza stood up.

"So, here comes the fun part!" Erza grinned widely at me as she beaconed me to follow her outside. Levy shared her excitement and followed, as well as a straggling Natsu and Gray, both mumbling about having nothing better to do.

I smiled at Levy as she offered her hand, and I ran with her to catch up with Erza, comfortably holding her hand as we walked to the center of the driveway. We stopped when Erza suddenly spun, focusing on me with an intense stare.

"Here at the Fairy Ranch we do things differently than other places. One of the biggest things we do is assign each participant with an animal. Everyone is required to care for an animal, and every animal must be properly trained, and serve a purpose. For example, I have a horse as my companion. You have the choice of a cat, dog, rabbit, horse, cow, sheep, or mule. Feel free to wander about and look at all of the animals, and make your choice. Any animal that has already been paired has a collar, or some other designation of ownership. When you leave here, you are more than welcome to take your animal with you, as long as you can prove that you have a safe place to keep it. Otherwise it will stay here, and be paired with someone else. Regardless, while you are here, you will care for your animal, keeping it happy and in pristine condition. We do not tolerate animal abuse here, and if I see your animal suffering in any meaning of the word, I will deal with you directly."

I pride myself in my bravery, but I paled as Erza's hand tightened on the hilt of her sword, her eyes cold with the promise of pain should her expectations not be met. I nodded quickly, shrinking back from her intense gaze.

Erza smiled happily. "Good! I'm glad we are on the same page. Just let either the director or I know which animal you would prefer to have as your companion, and we will get them a collar. Good luck." She smiled and walked away to watch the fight Gray and Natsu were having, there just in case it should get to out of hand.

"Well, I'm going to go work on my homework. I wish you luck Lucy!" Levy smiled up at me before skipping back to her unit building, dodging a flying Natsu on her way there.

I shook my head and turned to the porch where all the cats were being fed by Elfman, the great hulk of a man being swarmed by cats in their hunger, putting up with the multitude of scratches I was sure he was quickly acquiring. I watched him with the cats for a little while, before walking toward the dog kennels.

I was always a dog person anyways.

A. N.: Aaaaaaand that's a wrap! I'm sorry this took so BLOODY LONG guys… I tried. I had the first two sentences finished for weeks, I just had terrible writers block!

Upside, I PASSED ALL MY CLASSES. I was honestly sooo worried about it. I'm hoping to regularly update and progress this story over this school break.

A shout out to my friend AndytheIcelander, who I have been chatting with and who is an amazing person. :) You should look at their fan fictions, OMG they are great, and only more yummy goodness to come. XD

Have a lovely time until we meet again! Don't forget to R&R. :)

-M. M.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

A.N.: No excuse is good enough. I'm sorry. Thank you to everyone who left a review! I judged which story would get an update first by how many reviews it received, as always. This one only won by one review! I'll be making my way through the others soon, for those of you that follow multiple of my fics. :)

Anyways, I tried to make this as long as I could, because the wait was so long. I need to work on more of the story, and I'm not sure what I want to do here. I feel like Lucy is opening up more, and her character is changing, but what do you guys think?

Anyways, on to the story! :D

-M.M.

Song: - FML (SMLE Remix) (I'm sorry, but the irony guys, THE IRONY.)

Lucy's POV:

As soon as we locked gazes, I knew he was the one.

His shining eyes, huge, happy smile that made his eyes squint, and his soft hair that begged to be touched drew me in like a moth to flame.

"C'mere Plue!" I called, stretching my arms out to the Bullmastiff, just as he came barrelling out of his kennel towards me after being released by the equally burly blonde giant whose name I recently learned was Laxus.

Laxus laughed loudly when I fell over backwards onto my rump, not having braced enough to handle 113 lbs of pure joy leaping up to greet me for the very first time.

Plue let out a bellowing howl of celebration when I looked over at Laxus and (once I could breathe properly) announced that I would like Plue as my companion.

Two weeks later, I was beginning to regret this decision.

"Come ON Plue! You stink!"

Picture this; a 103 lb blonde trying to wash a 113 lb GIANT of a dog, while the dog is attempting to keep the end of the hose pointed directly into his mouth, all while a pink-haired asshole of a unit-mate (and possibly his cat, the noises Happy was making were suspicious) laughed at them.

I blew my hair out of my eyes, grumbling about the stupidity of men (my dog included) and decided that the only way this was going to work, would be if I had some help.

I flipped my hair over my shoulder as I turned to them, swallowing my anger (and the vestiges of my pride), and giving Natsu the best smile I could muster, hoping he couldn't tell I was talking through clenched teeth, "Could you please help me with this? I'm getting soaked, and I'm obviously getting nowhere."

He choked.

And immediately turned red, patted his (I swear Happy was snickering) cat on the head before coming to stand by me, flashing me his award-winning smile before he was tackled by an over-excitable Plue, drenching his black and blue flame-print t-shirt in water and slobber.

Song: Subfer - Time (Ft. K10)

Natsu's POV:

By the time I finished helping Luce wash her (evil) dog I knew two more things about her.

#1: She liked my incense burner.

#2: She liked my music.

The latter I had guessed when I saw her staring at me when she first woke up in the infirmary. Only people who loved music ever get that look. I knew that's what I must have looked like the first time I walked in on my dad jamming on his guitar with his band.

The former I had no idea was even a possibility. Most people (read: Ice Princess) told me it was lame, and looked awful and beat up.

My face lifted in a smile as I walked to my unit house when I thought of Lucy's expression as she looked over the back of her giant of a dog, complimenting me on "how simultaneously well-loved and well taken care of" it was.

I wandered into my room, collecting a pair of PJs from the band-sticker covered foot locker at the foot of my bed before making my way to the shower. Lucy had gotten first dibs, because while I was just wet, she had gotten mud caked in her hair from slipping while she tried to wrangle Plue by herself.

I reached for my shampoo and squirted a generous amount onto my fingers, expecting the comforting smell of cinnamon to flood the shower but instead it was... Lucy?

I looked down, expecting to feel something strange happen to my hand (Gray went through a phase where he put different shit into my shampoo and conditioner every time I turned around, once he turned my hair black because it reacted badly to the dye I use, after that he stopped because he said I was trying to steal his 'look') and instead saw that I had picked up a pink bottle instead of my red one. We didn't keep our products in their original bottles because we had a color-coding system for the bathroom. Lucy had chosen pink as her color.

I carefully opened the lid of the container and put the shampoo back in. I knew that Lucy was very territorial over her bath products (Gray had accidentally used her hairspray the week before and she threw a fucking fit, though why he was using it I still don't know) so I was careful to #1 hide all evidence of my fuck-up, and #2 waste as little product as possible.

I finally finished my shower, and started to change, only to realize that I had dropped my shirt between the shower and my room. I sighed and opened the door, only to see Lucy pick up the white tank top I had been planning to wear. Her back was to me, so I, being the smooth fuck I am, tossed my towel over my head so it hung around my neck, the bright red matching my pants, as I walked over to her, making enough noise that she could hear me coming.

Lucy spun around just as I came within arms reach, her eyes wide as she looked at me. I knew I looked good (being a ranch hand does have its perks) but the way she looked at me made me feel like a million bucks. This look was 100% better than the one she gave Gray (yes I was still jealous about that okay, leave me alone).

I smirked and swiped my tank top out of her (surprisingly firm) grip, pulling it on without moving my feet.

My hand reached out, seemingly of its own volition, to grasp hers, pulling her towards the door.

"You hungry? It's about dinner time."

Lucy seemed to snap out of whatever form of shock she was in, and her lips curved up in a devious grin as she ran through the door I held open for her, her hand slipping out of mine as she bolted for the main hall screaming defiantly, "I'll race you there!"

I would never admit this, but the reason I lost was because for a good three seconds, I stood there in that damn doorway, stunned with a sudden realization.

Lucy smelled like cinnamon.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello everyone! I know I'm going to make some of you mad with this announcement, but I'm rewriting this story.

I have grown as a writer since this story began, and I want to do justice to the story I have in my head.

I'm not even going to be able to EDIT, I'm having to rewrite the whole thing.

Upside, it should be faster to update, as I have the plot all done, though that doesn't say much really.

So here's the $1,000,000 question: Would you guys prefer to have me update on this story, or publish a separate one?

Please use the PM system or the reviews, whichever is easier for you. I'm not going to update until I get three votes, so hop to it!

Thank you for sticking with me!

M.M.


	12. Chapter 12

Hey y'all! :D

So, I have rewritten about half of the original first chapter of this story, and posted it.

Here's the link:

s/12391771/1/The-Fairy-Ranch-2nd-Edition

Hope to see you guys over there! The end has a HUGE author's note, so please take a sec to give that a read.

Love ya!

Rory


	13. Chapter 13

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the multiple author's posts, but I just wanted to let y'all know that we are officially on chapter 3 for TFR 2.0! I didn't want to post here until I was sure about what I was going to do, but this story is officially being re-written!

See ya over there! ^_^

M. M.


End file.
